Red Rocket
by Miss Starfire
Summary: Tony cannot wait to marry the love of his life, but things start changing quickly for him when he walks into something he should not have. The consequences of this unravel beyond his control, and as he discovers a new side of himself, he realizes that he does not want to go through it alone. [AU]
**Summary:** Tony cannot wait to marry the love of his life, but things start changing quickly for him when he walks into something he should not have. The consequences of this unravel beyond his control, and as he discovers a new side of himself, he realizes that he does not want to go through it alone.

 **Standard disclaimer for all my stories:** My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IMAA stories :) I don't own IMAA. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of FFNET.

 **A/N – SUPER IMPORTANT:** Sooo… I was gonna wait until I finished _The Last Chronicle_ to start posting all the other stories I have for IMAA, but since the fandom appears to be dying (and I'm still unemployed), I figured might as well get these out to see if anyone even likes the ideas and is interested in reading more before the fandom completely dies off (so sad). In other words, if you like one of the stories I'mma spam your life with, please let me know with a review! TLC has been mapped out and will be updated accordingly, but I have no issue jumping into updating a story that catches someone's interest.

Anyway, get ready for the new story alert emails!

 **Fair warning on this story:** This is my very first AU, and it's gonna be a very risky one, of that much I'm sure. The content you will see here will sometimes border on mature, but I'll try to keep it as non-explicit (read: _least_ explicit) as possible. You may see tidbits of people, places and situations from my other IMAA stories in here, but they are not at all connected. You can say that this is an AU of an AU of another AU. Meaning, I've taken parts of the IMAA universe I've created for my other stories and combined them into one, stand-alone AU that I hope will blow your mind.

Now, without further ado, I present to you…

* * *

 **Red Rocket**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Promiscuous**

– **or –**

 **Surprise, Motherfucker!**

Typically, _The Rotary_ night club was a location in which the elite figures of society would rather not be caught dead, due to its location, reputation and distinctive clientele. This, by no means, meant that they did not attend every once in a blue moon. Some members of the _crème de la crème_ , in fact, made their presences known more often than that. Yet, when they did so, it was in such a way that no one would ever find out they had even been there. This grand feat was usually accomplished in one of three ways: 1) paying everyone that worked there for their silence; 2) pretending to be someone else with the use of disguises; or 3) – in the case of Tony Stark and company – rent the entire place for the whole night.

This, as a matter of fact, was exactly what was taking place tonight.

Tonight was not any other ol' night for the young billionaire, heir to Stark International and to all of the wealth of the Stark family. Tonight was not a regular night of late clubbing for no reason, or of staying up playing poker with his friends until the break of dawn.

No.

Tonight was not any normal night for him.

Tonight was a special night; a night to be remembered. A night to celebrate. A night that was all about him.

Tonight, Anthony Edward Stark and friends, had all gathered to kiss the young man's single ass goodbye, as tomorrow, Tony Stark would be wed to the love of his life. Finally, after nearly a decade of dating, two years of which belonged to the engagement period to plan this massive wedding, and a lifetime of pair bonding, Tony Stark was once and for all going to tie the knot.

And he could not be more ready for it.

For years, he had waited for this moment. Ever since he had realized he was head over heels in love with his best friend. Years of courting her had led them both here, to this moment, and in a few hours, he would finally be able to call her his wife. There was nothing else that mattered to Tony right now. Not the expensive beer bottles before him. Not the handful of girls stripping and dancing before them, randomly sliding their glistening bodies against every single man attending his bachelor party. Not the illegal drugs some of his guests were inhaling from the strippers' perky and exposed breasts.

No.

Nothing else mattered to him.

All that mattered was her.

Tony's eyes wandered around him, making a mental note of where everyone's attention was at the moment. He then looked down to his lap to discretely take out his phone, and before he risked getting caught, he sent out a text message.

" _Miss you, babe. Can't wait for tomorrow."_

The reply was almost instantaneous, and it made him smile wide.

" _Me neither. Have fun ;) Love you."_

"T," James _Rhodey_ Rhodes' heavily drunk voice startled the young billionaire, "Why the _fuck_ aren't you watching the naked ladies dance? We got you the best strippers in town, man! They weren't cheap!"

"Sorry," Tony said apologetically while he tried to hide his phone from one of his Best Men and faked a yawn. "I-I think I'm falling asleep, though" he lied, wanting nothing more than for this night to be over so that he would be closer to walking down the aisle. "I think it's time to call it, don't you think?"

"Bullshit, motherfucker!" Rhodey spat and pointed a judging finger at Tony. "There's no way we're letting you get hitched tomorrow without ever getting your first lap dance! And stop trying to hide that goddamned phone! I know who you're texting. Let her sleep, man!"

"She's out with the girls," Tony said with a shrug, seeing no point in denying his actions now that he had been caught. "She's not asleep."

"I bet she ain't. She's probably doing what you should be doing: having fun! 'Sides, you'll see her tomorrow, and then you'll wake up to her every day until the sweet release of death," Rhodey said.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Tony rolled his eyes, by now growing weary of hearing Rhodey's pessimism towards marriage. Tony understood where this hate towards commitment came from – being left at the altar by your suddenly lesbian fiancée could not be easy on anyone – but seeing as nearly two years had passed since that incident, Tony would have expected Rhodey to have let it go by now.

"Why isn't Justin here?" Tony mumbled under his breath when Rhodey slapped the ass of a passing waitress. "He'd let me go home now."

"The fuck?" Rhodey punched Tony on the shoulder. "Did you seriously just say you prefer _Boring Best Man's_ company to mine? The one who has two beers and passes out? Fucker, I rented the entire place for you! You ungrateful summa bitch."

"I know, Rhodey, and I'm not ungrateful. I just– well, tonight–"

"Tonight you let _that_ girl over there straddle you… maybe even give you a hand job," the man added while he waved a hand towards one of the many girls dancing on stage. "Hey… you… uhm, stripper…"

"Rhodey, stop it, man. I don't want a lap dance. Or a hand–"

"What? Don't like that girl? We'll, there's more… Oooh, I know! How about those twins over there?"

"Twins?" Tony's head recoiled before he turned to face his friend. "Dude, that's just _one_ girl."

"Really?" Rhodey tilted his head. "That's not what my eyes are telling me."

"Your eyes are as drunk as your brain right now."

"Oh, well," Rhodey shrugged. "Twins are overrated, anyway. Besides, now that I think about it, I don't want to hear it from the future Missus if she finds out I let a random girl give you a hand job. It's bad enough she still yells at me anytime she remembers I caught you two making out on the roof of the school."

"Why the hell would she not?" Tony spat angrily. "You took pictures of it and posted them online!"

"So, what? Everyone knew you guys were dating. Big deal."

"That's not the point… the point is that–"

"OH, YEEAAAHHHH!"

Tony's retort was interrupted by the neighboring men's whistling and catcalling that preceded the lights of the establishment suddenly dimming considerably. The spectacle then gave way to a single spotlight aiming towards the middle of the main stage where a black chair and a leather whip awaited to be abused. From the shadows, the final and main attraction of the night appeared, and to the tune of _Promiscuous_ , the professional exotic dancer captured everyone's attention – including Tony Stark's.

 _Not bad_ , Tony thought with an approving nod. _This will keep them occupied._

After making sure his phone was still in his pocket, Tony stood up from his chair only to violently be pulled right back into it by Rhodey's arm on his.

"Dude, where are you going? This is your fucking party! ENJOY IT!"

"I AM ENJOYING IT!" Tony replied. "But I have to piss!" he again lied. "The first ten beers are ready to come out!"

"Oh," Rhodey shrugged, nodded in understanding and let go of Tony's arm. "You can go pee, I guess. Although, the rest of us have just been going in Damian's cup," the man added with a slight shake of his shoulders at his barely contained laughter. "He keeps saying his draft beer is better than ours because it tastes different. Dumbass doesn't know any better! HAHAHA!"

"Jeez!" Tony scrunched his nose in revulsion. "Are you sure you graduated from the Air Force Academy? You aren't acting very military-like right now."

"Are you kidding me?" Rhodey snorted. "Drinking pee from your canteen after running ten miles is the least of your concerns when you're the new guy at the camp."

"The hell?" Tony shook his head, uncertain of what he had heard and almost wanting to ask for clarification, but in the end decided against continuing the discussion. "You know what? Nevermind. I'll be right back."

"Don't get lost!"

"I won't!" Tony responded before he quietly mumbled to himself the words: "Won't be coming back, that is."

Tuning out the rumbustious crowd of heavily drugged and drunken men, Tony headed down the hall, around the corner, and straight to the restroom area. As he had expected, the loud noises died down considerably the closer he got to the facilities, and by the time he reached the entrance of the men's restroom, he was glad to hear that most of the music was muffled by the multiple doors he had gone through to get where he now was.

Yet, as he stared at the door in question, he realized that he had all but jinxed himself with his words of just a moment ago. He now actually _had_ the real need to empty his bladder as soon as possible.

"Dammit," Tony groaned as his fingers were about to press speed dial #1. "Fucking beers!"

His right hand landed on the handle, but he found it to be locked. He then pressed his left ear against the door, and after hearing the loud retching as whoever was inside violently vomited, Tony took a step back from it.

"Yeah, no."

His eyes then traveled to the door to his right, clearly marked with a sign that indicated that it was not his gender's restroom, but he could sincerely not give a rat's ass. His bladder was quickly starting to cripple his ability to stand straight and see clearly, so he threw caution to the wind and turned the knob…

…or at least he tried. It too was locked.

 _Shit!_

He repeated his previous motion of pressing his ear against the women's restroom door, but instead of hearing retching, he heard the clear signs of loud sex. He grumbled loudly, hit his forehead multiple times against the wall between the two doors, put his phone away in his back pocket, and then exhaled slowly and almost painfully so when a small cramp creeped up his urinary tract.

Suddenly, peeing in a cup was not such a disgusting idea after all.

Unfortunately, he knew that if he went back to the club, Rhodey and his other guests would embarrass the hell out of him. Perhaps even make him lose his virginity all over again.

 _Fuck!_

Seeing no other choice, Tony looked left and right, walked back and forth and around in circles throughout the establishment while avoiding being seen by anyone who may have forced him back onto the dance floor, until he finally found what he had been searching for. The view of the back alley door was a sight for sore eyes – and for an almost exploding bladder – so he rushed towards it at a fast pace.

The cold, humid air that hit him square in the face when he slammed opened the back door made his pores react in ways he definitely did not need at the moment. The goosebumps trailing down his arms and legs made his actions hasty and almost uncoordinated. Nonetheless, and in a manner of seconds, he was able to zip down his pants, open the front of his boxers and aim the stream towards the wall.

He exhaled in relief and rested his forehead against the wall before him. As the pressure on his organs reduced, his mammalian brain began overpowering his reptilian one, encouraging him to realize what would happen if he were to get caught in the act. If he were to be seen by a normal citizen, he would simply resort to bribing them for their silence. But, if it were an officer of the law…

 _I can't get arrested the night before my wedding!_

Thankfully for him, the content of the other five beers unexpectedly decided it could wait a little bit longer before returning to the outside world. This gave him enough time, he realized, to return to his townhome and use a decent, clean and familiar urine disposal system. It also gave him time to sneak out of his bachelor party and get a good night's sleep for the big day ahead of him.

His head moved from side to side, making sure his illegal deed had gone unnoticed while he fixed his clothes. When almost a full minute went by and he did not see anyone nearby, the young man counted his blessings, thanked the heavens for his good fortune, and then promptly began walking towards the end of the alley that he knew led to the parking lot. His steps, however, were halted when he heard a pair of arguing voices he did not immediately recognize.

" _Let go!"_

" _Oh, come on! Like you don't want it!"_

" _I don't!"_

" _Shut up, you whore! I'm gonna fuck you right here, right now, whether you want it or not!"_

" _NO!"_

The forceful scuffle continued, yet thanks to the curving of the alley, Tony's presence was unknown to the would-be sexual assaulter nearby. The billionaire hesitated to continue walking down the path he had already set himself to follow; his mind toyed with the idea of just turning around and letting yet another offense take place in the crime-filled neighborhood his friends had brought him to. However, when the realization that the true gentleman his mother and grandmother had raised would never leave a damsel in distress to fend off a larger opponent if he had any say in the matter, Tony resigned himself to the possibility of not escaping some form of encounter with the law this time around, even if just to give a statement of corroboration.

 _Damn it all!_

As he rounded the corner, he became even more disgusted by the scene unfolding before him. The man, who he now realized was one of Justin's guests whose name he did not recall, was pinning an ill-clothed, brunette woman against the wall. Her legs were being forced open by the man's hips on her thighs. Her arms were being kept above her head by the man's left hand around her wrists, and his right hand was just now finishing unzipping his pants and heading to surround her neck. The woman began coughing almost immediately, and despite her best efforts, the man was able to thrust once against her thighs.

"What the fuck, man?!" Tony said before he was able to stop himself. "Let her go!"

The man's head snapped to his right to stare at Tony, and the moment the billionaire saw the man's eyes, he realized he was not going to listen to logic: he was more than just a little high, and drunk as hell. Nevertheless, Tony knew he just had to try to stop the assault with the least amount of physical attacks as possible, even if just to say he tried to reason with the man.

"Hey," Tony repeated and slowly walked towards the man. "You see what you're doing? You're about to rape her! She said 'no'."

"Fuck off, Stark!" the nameless man replied and continued his assault on the woman that Tony now realized was one of the strippers from the club. "You get yours tomorrow. I'll get mine tonight!"

"No… s-stop…" the woman barely choked out, her eyes red and bulging, and tears of anger and distress streaming down her face. Even if this was a common occurrence in her line of work, it was never pleasant to be a victim once more. Most especially tonight, when she had been hired to simply dance and not escort. "Pl-leasee… s-s-stop…"

Her pleading, broken words echoed in his mind, and when the image of his fiancée briefly replaced the one of the woman before him – even if they looked nothing alike – something inside of Tony snapped.

"SHE SAID: STOP!"

The uttering of his command was the final warning Tony gave him before he punched the man in the face to prevent him from thrusting one more time, this time with the intent to actually enter her. The attack had been unforeseen by all three of them, so the consequences of said act propagated exponentially and at a rapid pace before they could be stopped. The impact of Tony's well-placed fist broke the guest's nose and made him go out like a light. The sudden loss of her perch made the woman fall down to the ground after she hit her forehead against the wall on the way down, and by the time Tony realized what he had done, he had two bodies by his feet.

 _OH. FUCK._

He pressed his palms against the sides of his head, looked all around him, and then rubbed his face with his hands. "Oh, shit! Oh, _SHIT_!"

He could see that the man was still breathing, snoring even through his swelling nostrils, so he was not so much concerned about him. His worry was for the woman, however, who looked awfully still and whose head was now trickling a little blood.

 _I killed a stripper! I fucking killed a stripper!_ He thought with fear. _What do I do now?_

As if his highly-intelligent brain decided to act in order to answer his question, Tony's legs bent of their own accord until he got on his knees on the ground and he pressed his right index and middle fingers on her neck. When he realized that she still had a steady pulse and was breathing rather strongly, he sighed in relief.

"Thank God!"

The young billionaire allowed himself to sit on the dirty ground as his eyes darted back and forth between the unconscious man and woman in front of him and he silently weighed his options. Going back inside was a possibility, but it was also one that would cause more commotion than resolution due to the inebriated state of his friends. Taking off and leaving the two passed out individuals was also a choice, but it was a rather cowardly one. He could also call an ambulance for the woman, but they would in turn call the cops, and having as much alcohol in his system as he did, he would probably end up in more trouble than he had been a part of.

 _Screw it!_ Tony thought as he checked the man's pulse for good measure. _I'm taking off!_

However, he realized that if he simply left the stripper where she was, the guy who assaulted her could wake up first and continue what he started, or some other sleazebag could come along and try to take advantage of her unconscious form. He should probably take her with him, but to where? Drop her off at the hospital and leave before anyone recognized him as Tony Stark? Wait for her to wake up, take her home and hope that she did not press charges against him for causing her head injury? As he thought over his options, the young billionaire realized that he knew someone that could advise him of the best course of action for such a situation.

Carefully and almost timidly, Tony reset the stripper's clothes as much as possible, trying his best not to leave behind too many fingerprints on her form. He then quickly checked her forehead to assess the damage caused by the impact, and when he determined it was not as severe as it appeared to be, he lifted the woman in his arms, looked around him one last time, and then carried her with him towards his car.

 _ **So**_ _not what I had in mind for tonight!_

Struggling as he did so, he was able to unlock his car before he slowly laid the woman on the back seat. After making sure that her out cold form was as comfortable as she could be inside the back of his black, Stark-issued, custom-made convertible sports vehicle, Tony then walked around the front of the car towards the driver's seat. He wasted no time in jumping right in, starting the vehicle and speeding out of the parking lot with only one conceivable destination in mind: the home of his other best man, Justin Hammer.

Of all the shenanigans he had put himself through, Tony knew this one topped them all. Not only had he knocked out cold one of Justin's guests – regardless of how much the man had deserved it – but he had also inadvertently caused injury to the woman who had so avidly distracted his friends by dancing to a song he despised. Thankfully for him, these were the types of situations that Justin knew how to handle with finesse. If it were not for him, in fact, Tony Stark, billionaire extraordinaire, would have ended up in jail one too many times.

The drive to Justin's home was becoming ludicrously long by the luck of encountering every single red light along the way. _The Rotary_ was located in the outskirts of the island, at least thirty miles away from where Justin lived, and even further away from the location of Tony's townhouse. Tony's parents' home was even more secluded than that, and showing up at his grandparents' mansion was simply not an option for Tony this late at night. With so many options available, however, he did not dare to go anywhere else, lest his mess up became known to the wrong people at the wrong time.

After taking a quick glance towards the back to check up on the stripper, Tony then dialed Justin's number via the embedded phone in his car. The phone did not even ring once and instead went straight to voicemail, which told the billionaire that his friend was out for the count. It was not unlike Justin to conk out after just a few beers, and in all the years he had known the man – his entire life, in fact – Justin had never been able to hold his liquor even if his life depended on it.

 _He's gonna be pissed when I wake him up_ , Tony thought begrudgingly. _He's so gonna rip me a new one!_

Similar thoughts swam in his mind, as well as possible responses for the questions he knew he would be asked. The more he thought about the precautions he knew he should have taken, the more he acknowledged the fact that taking matters into his own hands had been a mistake. He should have just called the cops, explained the situation to them, signed a witness statement, and been on his merry way at some point during the wee hours of the morning.

But, had he done that? Noooooo. Nope. Absolutely not. Instead, he had assaulted a man, left him passed out in the alley of a questionable club, technically kidnapped a stripper, and was now in route to add an accomplice to his piss-poor plan.

Yup. Justin Hammer was going to reach a new level of ire.

Lost in his own thoughts, Tony almost missed the stopping point of his drive. The quick evasive maneuver he had to perform to suddenly stop his car made the woman in the back move precariously close to the edge of the seat, but thanks to the small amount of good fortune that Tony still seemed to have, she neither woke up nor hurt herself even more than she already had – or that he had inadvertently helped her in getting.

When he finally turned off the car, he undid his seatbelt, reached back to grab one of the woman's wrists, and then checked that her pulse was still pretty stable. He then placed the back of his hand on her forehead to make sure that she was not suddenly developing a fever due to the head injury, and before more time was lost, he rushed out of the car and entered the private high-rise where Justin lived.

The elevator quickly took him to the penthouse at the topmost level of the building. The keycard his friend had shared with him a long time ago was still active, and before anyone realized he was there, Tony had already used the hell out of it to enter the home through the front door. The lights were off and everything was silent, and guilt began creeping up inside of the billionaire. If he were in Justin's situation right now, the last thing he would have liked to have done to him would be to be woken up in the middle of the night to clean up someone else's mess.

 _I'm already here_ , Tony thought despondently as he tiptoed further into the home. _Might as well get it over with._

Tony knew this place like the back of his hand, perhaps even more than he did his own home, so the lack of light in the area did not delay his pace. He hurriedly reached the narrow hallway that led to Justin's room and, to Tony's surprise, it turned out that his best friend was neither asleep nor alone.

 _Oh, snap! Sounds like someone may be getting some tonight!_

From his current vantage point, Tony could see that the master bedroom was lit up by candles of different sizes and shapes, scattered all throughout the pieces of furniture within the room. Soft, sensual music played in the background, and as Tony took another short step towards the door, he had to hold back a gasp of shock when he saw a very naked Justin Hammer tied to the bed.

 _Oh, crap!_ Tony thought as he inwardly sighed and looked away from the spectacle that almost made him want to scratch his eyes out. _He IS busy!_

Even if he had punched a man in the face, had a stripper conked out in the back of his car, and was in deep with his current predicament, Tony felt his problems were just his for now. It was more than clear to him that this time around, his best friend was not available to bail him out, so the billionaire shook his head and fists in the air, stared at the ceiling to curse his luck and, just as he was about to completely turn around and exit as quietly as he had let himself in, an awfully familiar female voice made him stop in his tracks.

" _Why do you look so nervous, baby? It's not like it's the first time we do this."_

" _I know,"_ Tony heard Justin reply. _"And I'm not nervous. I'm just… sad… that we won't get to do this anymore."_

At this, the stunned-silent man slowly turned around back into place to make gain of his location. He knew that from this position, he could clearly hear and see inside most of the room without being spotted, and for a quick second he wished he had not known of this critical advantage he currently had; a quick second that allowed his eyes to land on the leather-clad form of his bride-to-be.

 _Whitney?_ Tony's mouth hung. _Whitney and… Justin?_

Suddenly, his dilemma waiting outside in the car seemed minimal compared to what was developing in front of his eyes.

He felt all the blood in his veins rush down toward his feet, leaving his face looking blanched and his skin cold. His ability to speak was impaired by the knot in his throat. His heart raced so fast that his entire body began to shake. As much as he wanted to take his eyes off the scene, as much as he wanted to close his eyes and call this a nightmare, his head refused to move, and little by little he became aware of several truths that had been kept from him.

" _Who says we can't keep seeing each other?"_ Whitney reasoned while she took off her corset and threw it onto the floor, exposing her breasts to an eager-looking Justin in the bed, who was more than ready to play his part. _"Marriage doesn't mean anything to me, you know that. Tony's only ever been a toy. I've always loved you, Justin."_

" _I know that, too,"_ Justin replied, lazily pulling on the handcuffs that bound him to the headboard. _"But it's gonna be even more difficult to keep this from him once you two live together."_

" _No, it won't,"_ Whitney replied with a scoff and began crawling on the bed towards her prey. _"We've done this for years and he has no idea it's going on. Shit, he still thinks my bachelorette party is tonight! He's an idiot, so blindly in love with me. He's never realized I couldn't care less about his little dreams."_

Just like that, in a split second, as he watched Whitney take off the rest of her clothes to begin riding Justin with the expertise that came from routine and familiarity, Tony Stark's special night came crumbling down. His life was instantly and forever changed – stripped of any trace of happiness he had ever felt.

He felt torn at that moment. Several voices and emotions swirled inside of him, making him simultaneously want to: run away crying into the night; jump inside the room and demand of them _why;_ sneak in while they did not notice him, shatter one of Justin's vases against the wall, and use the largest shard to slice them both to pieces before they knew what was happening; slink away and pretend he never saw anything, go through with his plans for tomorrow, and figure out a way to make it work.

All options sounded tempting – doable, in fact – but the sounds of his future wife enthusiastically giving herself to his best friend became the one single thing that made him turn around, quietly exit the home, and all but stumble his way back to his car.

 _Justin and Whitney… all this time… it can't… it can't be true!_

And yet, it was. It was absolutely true. And what Tony had just witnessed had only been a small portion of the relationship his fiancée and his best man had developed over time, behind his back, always keenly aware of what they were doing to him. To the man that had seen them as friends, almost family. To the man that had trusted them with every aspect of his heart, soul and life.

 _Does Rhodey know? Does anyone else know? How long has it gone on? Do they know I'm here?_

Too many questions flooded his mind, but the last one made him realize he needed to get as far away from this place as he could, immediately. He would definitely confront them both later on, investigate the details of this affair, expose them for what they truly were, call off the wedding and more… but he could not do any of it for now. At the moment, his heart was broken and his mind was not its usual unit of logic and efficiency. Right now, he was nothing more than a mess.

He fumbled with his keys and could barely keep his fingers steady enough to press the unlock button on the car's remote. The driver's seat door opened almost instantly, and Tony jumped inside of it and slammed the door closed. He took in a deep breath, nearly gasping, and began hitting his head against the steering wheel while slamming his hand down on the dashboard.

His mind was replaying for him the first time he had ever summoned up the nerve to kiss Whitney, nearly ten years ago. It had been the same week he had asked her to be his girlfriend. They had known each other since they were kids, and his feelings for her had gone beyond friendship around the time he was twelve. He had never kept his crush on her a secret; in the three years from when he fell for her to when he finally made a move, she had been aware of it all that time. And that first kiss had been so sweet, so wonderful, like fulfilling a life-long endeavor that had consumed one's entire waking world.

Tears began gathering in the corners of his eyes as he reflected on this memory, comparing it to what he had just heard straight from the mouth of the girl he had loved for most of his life, and whom he had thought had loved him back for just as long and with just as much intensity.

 _Was it all a lie? Ten years together… has it_ _ **all**_ _been nothing but a lie?_

With this thought, the reality of what he had witnessed truly began to hit him, and as Tony Stark was about to let the tears in his eyes start to fall and the pain in his heart consume him, he heard a voice behind him that made him jump in his seat.

"Where am I and what am I doing here?"

Tony's head snapped to his right and stared at the brunette curled up in the back seat, behind the passenger's side, quickly reminding him that he had one more thing to do before he could drive himself home to let out the ache in his very soul.

"You're awake," Tony stated the obvious, although he did so more to focus himself on the task at hand than as an attempt to starting a conversation. "Are you…" he cleared his throat and held back the sniffle that threatened to escape him, "Are you alright?"

The only response he received from her was in the form of the stripper pushing herself closer to the corner of the back seat.

"Hey," Tony began and almost fully turned around in his seat so that he could face her. The tears were still there, accumulating in the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away. The agony was still present, threatening to destroy him from within, but he had no choice but to pretend he was not dying inside.

"I'm not gonna try anything funny, alright?" his voice softened a little. "I just want to… Well, let me take you home."

The stripper's face was barely visible in the darkness of the back seat, but Tony could tell that she was trying to measure his true intentions. He really could not blame her, he knew, seeing as she had gotten hurt during his bachelor party, but he also understood that she was not aware that all he wanted to do was settle this issue so he could go back home and call off the ruse his nuptial was turning out to be.

"Why…" the stripper asked, her voice dripping with uncertainty. "Why do you want to take me home? To your home, you mean? Because that's not what your friend paid for, Mr. Stark."

"No," Tony immediately replied, not at all surprised that she knew who he was. "I feel responsible, alright? I mean, I don't even know the guy that tried to… you know. But it was my party and my guest and… And I'm sorry he did that to you."

"Huh," the brunette said in a derisive tone. "So, you don't want me to press charges or sue you. Is that it?"

Tony shrugged. He had not even thought about that part.

"You do what you need to do," he told her, his tone of voice almost sounding contemptuous. "I just want to do my part and take you home. And if you do have to end up having to go the hospital for that," he pointed to her forehead, "Throw my name around and send me the bill."

The woman's right hand landed on her forehead, and with a wince she realized she had indeed been hurt.

"Just unlock the damn car," she huffed. "I'll walk home."

"Where do you live?" he brought up the GPS on the dashboard of the vehicle.

"I'm not gonna tell you were I live, Mr. Stark. So, please, just unlock the door and I'll be out of your hair."

"I'm not letting you walk home, Miss. It's almost two AM."

"And I don't trust you to take me home, Mister. I don't know you."

"You do know me: I'm Tony Stark. And why wouldn't you trust me?" Tony asked. "I punched the guy that tried to assault you."

"Well, seeing as you brought the guy over to where I work, and seeing as you own a car that doesn't seem to unlock from the inside, you can see why trusting you is simply not an option for me."

"Alright," Tony's aggravated voice said. "I see your point, but do you see mine? I take it that you probably live close to where you work, right? _The Rotary_ is in Hunts Point. We're in Lenox Hill."

The stripper pursed her lips and flared her nostrils. He was indeed correct: she was way off walking distance from home. More than thirty miles, to be exact.

"Take me to a bus stop," she then said.

"Same difference," Tony replied, almost hearing his grandmother yell at him in his ear, telling him to be a gentleman. "The point is that a lady shouldn't be alone this late at night. Besides, do you really think the bus system in Lenox Hill is going to let you inside looking like that?"

She pursed her lips again and stared down at her almost non-existent and disheveled clothes. He had an extremely good point, once more.

"Fine," she said between gritted teeth and crossed her arms over her chest. "But don't think I'll let you try anything on me."

"I don't even want to," he assured her. "In fact," he continued as he took out his phone from his pocket and then waved it towards the confused woman now sitting normally in the back. "Take it. Feel free to use it to dial 911 if you think I'm up to no good."

She eyed the phone with distrust, wondering if it even worked at all. He could tell she was still not convinced of his honorable intentions, so he dialed the number for information. After having a lively discussion with the operator that answered his call, he hung up and threw the phone in the back seat before he turned around and started the car.

"So, where are we going?"

He heard the woman sigh loudly and even groan a little; yet, thankfully for him, she finally gave in and accepted the reality of her predicament.

"Head back as if you were returning to _The Rotary_ ," she said as she clasped the phone in her hands. "I'll let you know where to turn once we're there."

"Alright."

The silence that trailed his last word dragged on for a long time – perhaps as long as the drive itself, but Tony could not care less if it made the woman in the back seat uncomfortable with it. Yes, he truly felt responsible for the would-be fate of the stripper at the hands of his drunken guest, but that had been priority only before he had seen Whitney Stane fucking Justin Hammer. He was still going to drive the woman home and make sure she had his contact information in case she wanted to follow up with him, but his current motions were a consequence of inertia, at best.

He was driving back to the place he had wanted to escape from just an hour ago to be able to call his fiancée. He was returning to the scene of the crime he had not committed but had barely stopped. It was very likely that he would probably encounter Rhodey leaving the club, or perhaps even some of his other guests, but he had already made the choice to ignore their calls and messages until he felt ready for them.

He was not sure what to do after he completed his current task. What had seemed so certain and simple just hours ago, was now jumbled and blown to pieces. All this time, he had believed that his life was set and in perfect harmony with the world, but he now realized that he had been living a complete fib. His friendship with Justin was a lie. His relationship with Whitney was a lie. For all he knew, Rhodey's friendship was also a scam. Maybe everyone but him knew about their affair all this time. Maybe everyone tried to keep it from him for his sake or to keep the family embarrassment from the news. He was not sure what to believe or who he could trust, and he was sure as hell that he had no idea where to start fixing it all up.

"Can I sit up front?" the woman's voice snapped Tony back to reality and he stared at her from the rearview mirror. "We're almost there and I can't really guide you from back here. I can't see much."

"Sure," Tony replied and slowed down the vehicle for the stripper to crawl between the seats to sit in the passenger seat. "How much further do we have to go?"

"Just a few blocks."

With limited word usage and finger pointing, the exotic dancer guided Tony to reach the entrance of the dilapidated neighborhood she called home. He had not expected her to actually show him where she lived, but the deeper they drove into the location, the more he realized it had been best for him to drive her here. Even in the wee hours of the morning, prostitution, drug dealing and other crimes were abounding without cover. Tony had never been so close to criminals and their activities as he currently was, but after everything he had found out today about those he had once trusted, he felt safer near the crooks than he did near his would-have-been wife.

"Stop," she precipitously said and he immediately complied, forcing him to idle the vehicle in the middle of the street. He looked left and right to see that they had arrived at an old apartment complex that spanned both sides of the street, and he then turned to face the woman to await her next set of instructions.

"You better not park here or anywhere nearby. As soon as I'm out of the car, drive off as if the devil himself was chasing you and don't look back."

The woman then left his phone in the cup holder between the seats, and as she was about to grab hold of the door handle, Tony's voice made her halt.

"Wait," the billionaire reached out to the glove compartment and took out a business card from it, accidentally grazing her thigh in the process. She eyed him with a warning look, so he instantly backed away from her and lifted his hands in the air, card still in between his fingers.

"Sorry," he told her. "Didn't mean to do that… there… to you… Look, just, here, take this. Call me if you need to. And I'm serious: send me the bill."

The stripper breathed loudly and rolled her eyes, but in the end she still grabbed the card from him. She then heard the door unlock and she immediately exited it, and against her better judgement, she turned around in place, rested her right arm on the top edge of the door and bent down to face him.

"Look, I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. I'm just… I'm not used to people being nice to me for no reason, especially on the job. But, thank you for saving me… for… for bringing me home. And congratulations on your wedding, Mr. Stark."

"Tony," he said without missing a beat, if just to keep him from telling this complete stranger the true fate of his celebration of tomorrow. "Mr. Stark is my dad. Call me: Tony."

Despite herself, the woman gave him an honest smile. "Mr. Stark, my services to you may be over, but my professionalism still stands."

"I can see that," he said with a nod and, despite the situation, gave her a small smile. "And I'm again sorry for tonight. I'll make sure that asshole is dealt with, Miss…"

She smirked and shook her head at him. "Sorry. I don't share private information with clients. It's nothing personal, just my business practice."

"As a businessman myself, I can appreciate that. But what am I supposed to refer you as when I finish beating him up for what he did to you?"

"How about: _that stripper you nearly raped_?"

After her sarcastic retort, the woman's shoulders sagged at his physical response. She knew that he had had nothing to do with the other man's actions, but she could see that the guilt of it weighed heavily on him either way. She honestly could not and did not want to share her name with him, but she owed him the courtesy of giving him something to go off of. She eyed left and right to make sure it was still OK to be outside and that no one was watching their interaction, and just as Tony thought he was actually going to have to refer to her as the 'stripper that the dude almost raped,' the young woman surprised him with her actions and a response.

"Rocket," she began. "Name's Red Rocket."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? Your name is Red Rocket? As in, your birth certificate says: first name 'Red,' last name 'Rocket'?"

"Yup."

"Really?"

"No," she rolled her eyes and chuckled. "That's my stage name."

"Oh," he said, feeling a tad stupid for not seeing the cynicism in her tone the first time around. "Well, sorry if I don't believe that either. You... you don't strike me as a red _anything,_ Ma'am."

The woman creased her brow for an instant, and when a look of understanding befell her face, she chuckled loudly and pulled the brown-haired wig off her head.

"Your friend, Mr. Rhodes," she explained as she used her fingers to comb her short, red curls, "Apparently has a thing against all redheads. He specifically asked that I covered my hair for tonight's event."

"Yeah, it's… a long story," Tony replied, having no better way to summarize that Annie, Rhodey's former fiancée, had been a redhead as well.

"I'm sure it involves a woman he loved. No man would despise a woman's physical attributes if he didn't have a bad experience with them."

"You can say that," Tony agreed. "There's definitely some of that in there."

"Well, Mr. Stark," Red Rocket began, knowing that she had to leave so that she could report her earnings before dawn. "It's been a pleasure, but I must turn in for the night."

"Same here. Good night, Ms. Rocket."

"Goodnight, Mr. Stark."

As the hazel-eyed woman walked away from his vehicle and took with her the small amount of distraction he had had in her presence, Tony was left with no other option but to drive away and face the reality where Whitney Stane had betrayed his heart.

* * *

 **A/N:** Biggest Faithful Reader Award for this chapter will go to the reader that can correctly list all of the hints/references to my other stories that had been described here. All of these chapters have hints to my other IMAA stories… how many did you find? WHO'S GONNA BE THE BIGGEST FAITHFUL READER?! DUN-DUN-DUN!


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